Twenty Years
by UnbrokenSilences
Summary: Originally a one-shot, but I decided to make this an actual story, compiled of different scenarios of how Max and Fang meet twenty years after Fang leaves her in Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel. As sad as I could possibly make it. Rated T for language. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**I read a bunch of FANG excerpts, and I had to do a fanfic! Takes place 20 years after the day Fang left the flock and Max, where they meet up together. Don't read if you don't like sadness! Fang's POV**

I wondered if she had remembered. Part of me thought, _She'll never forgive you_.

I know that I couldn't forgive myself.

But apparently, she _had_ saved the world. After all, I was still here, wasn't I?

I sat there on the cliff edge silently, swinging my legs back and forth. I heard a faint rustle to my right and whirled around. There she stood.

My heart skipped a beat—no, two beats. Max had grown even taller, skinnier, and "filled out", if you know what I mean. She looked tired, worn, older, and beaten, but she still managed a smile.

"Fang."

"Max?" I managed. "You...you came."

"So to speak," she wryly said, and came and sat by me. Her eyes were filled with pain and sorrow as she studied me.

"I'm sorry," I finally said after a long pause. "I..."

Max looked away. "I'm sorry, too," she replied. "But you caused me...so much pain. Twenty years is a long time to wait."

"I know."

Her warm hand brushed mine as she ruffled her feathers. "I moved on. I have a son. Fang Jr."

"Who's his father?" My heart pounded in my chest.

Max looked straight into my eyes. "I had him nine months after you left."

"He's...mine?"

A tear escaped one of her brown eyes as she nodded. "He has brown wings, black eyes, and black hair. He wanted to see you, but...but I wouldn't let him."

"Why?" Anger filled my veins. "He's my own son."

"Fang..." Max cupped my face with her hands. "I wasn't going to come, but then...but then..."

"What?" My voice was barely a whisper.

"My expiration date showed up," her voice was just as soft. "I'm dying...tomorrow...and I...had to see you one last time. Before I died."

My world spun to a stop. "_Tomorrow_?!" I'd been such an idiot. _Twenty years_ without knowing she was dead or alive, that she would ever come again.

Max nodded, and kicked a pebble. Her hair was streaked with gray, and I realized she was puffy-eyed.

"Max, you...you..."

Max smiled slightly. "The flock had the same reaction."

"But, you can't...what will...what will I do without you?" My chest felt hollow.

"You did pretty fine by yourself for twenty years," her voice caught in her throat.

"What about Fang Jr.?" The name sounded strange in my mouth.

"He lives with the flock. He'll be f-fine." The way Max stumbled made me understand she didn't think so. "Fang, after you left..." Max swallowed. "I was miserable. I tried to kill myself several times. But then I had Fang Jr., and I realized he had to have a mom. And I had to save the world for you. For him. Then after saving the world...well, I went back to my miserable self. Each day, I'd look out the window, praying that you were alive, that you would come back to me. But each day..." Her eyes welled with tears, "You never did."

My own eyes felt moist. "I'm...I never meant to..."

Max stroked my cheek softly, and I felt a pang in my heart, remembering her loving caresses twenty years ago. "I never meant to, either."

I caught her hand in mine, and she pulled away. "Max...won't you look at me? Can't we get back together again?"

"For one day?" she shrewdly asked, and then looked at her feet. "Fang, I saved your life. I got your heart going again. And...then you tore mine away from me. When you left...well, I lost the person I trusted the most. I lost my right-wing man, my best friend, my soul mate, the only person I'd ever love. I didn't trust _anybody_ after that. Except for Fang Jr."

I felt tears in my eyes again. What the _hell_ had I done to her?

"I never meant to hurt you," I muttered.

Her brown eyes met mine. "I know."

We sat in silence for a while before she turned to me again, tears really streaming down her cheeks. "I have to go."

"What? Why? Can't you stay?" I pleaded.

"I have to say good-bye to the flock too," she said, her voice clogged up. "And Fang Jr."

"No..." I found tears coursing down my cheeks as well. "Don't leave me again."

"No, Fang," she corrected, her eyes red. "You left me. Now I have to leave you."

She pulled me into a hug, sobbing into my chest. "I missed you...so much..." she whispered with her sobs subsided. "Each day...I dreamed of you. And some nights it'd hurt so much, I'd go back to each place we'd been together."

"Me too," I said into her hair, which softly shone in the moonlight.

"At least stay another half-hour," I begged.

After a pause, she relented. "All right."

* * *

I hugged her to my body, stroking her back. I could feel her heartbeat, her breathing, every movement she made.

We didn't say anything. But I treasured each moment we were together, knowing that it would never happen ever again.

"Where did you go?" she finally asked.

"Hawaii," I answered. "It reminded me..."

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Nudge tried to get me to date other guys," she said in a low voice. "But I'd tell them that I was still waiting for you...Nudge eventually snapped. She said I was being unrealistic, that you were dead, that you would never come back. She left that very night. She came back last week when she heard I was about to die."

"Angel knew I was in pain, but she couldn't help me. She said I had to heal by myself. It never happened..."

"Iggy and Ella got together. He had surgery, and his sight was recovered. But you should see his eyes, Fang. They're dull, lifeless...he was really affected by your leaving, too."

"Gazzy...he's an pyromaniac at this bomb-making government site. He's making lots of money. He told me to tell you he misses you, and if you don't come back, he's going to blow you up."

I smiled in spite of myself as Max plowed on. "Total and Akila...well, they had, like, five puppies! It was a total mess around the house, and then Akila died, and Total was heartbroken and ran off."

She stopped and her face fell. "And Dylan...well, we kinda kicked him out...he came back and tried to kill me. But we captured him and threw him into prison."

Max looked carefully at me. "I got a job," she finally continued. "I needed to work to keep Fang Jr. alive. I worked for the CIA. Mission specialist. They only sent me on the toughest missions."

"Worked?" I asked, noting the past tense.

"I quit after a few years. It reminded me too much of...you know."

Her eyes turned misty again. "So what did you do?"

"Killing as many 'bots as possible," I said. "And otherwise kicking back and relaxing."

Max's face turned to stone. "So you decided to help me save the world by breaking my heart and chilling?"

I winced. It had been the wrong thing to say. "Well, I was helping Pearl Harbor. Kinda like the CIA thing."

Her face smoothed out. "Oh. Okay." Then she glanced at her watch and turned to me, pain etched on her face again. "I have to go."

"Wait!" I grabbed her arm. "Tell me about your...our son."

Max sat back down. "He's...so like you," her voice got faraway. "Gothic, silent, strong...very, very protective and stubborn. Angel taught him at home. He grew to love flying...but hated his father for leaving his mother and breaking her heart. And his mother," her eyes searched mine, "Told him to forgive his father."

We both started crying again. I wrapped my arms around her. "I'm sorry," I repeated.

"Me too."

She pulled back, her lips at my ear. "I love you," she whispered. "I have always loved you."

She then kissed me gently, and it brought back waves of memories and pain...

Max pulled away again. "I'll miss you," she murmured. "Take this." Reaching behind her, she pulled out a feather from her wing, wincing a little at the sting. She handed it to me. "If you miss me...at least have part of me."

"You're wrong, Max," I quietly answered. "I have always had part of you. You have always been part of me. And when I left, I lost that."

She nodded in agreement, and kissed me once more. "I love you, Fang," she said again. "Take care."

And with that, she took off into the night.

* * *

_Third person's POV_

The next day, Max never woke up.

The flock and her son buried her with much tears and prayers.

A hundred years later, an archaeological dig occurred there. They found, to their surprise, two sets of avian-human bones. One appeared to be male, and he had his arms around the female. There was a stone in their hands, and it read:

_I lost my love,_

_She came back to me._

_I left my love,_

_He went back to she._

_We met again,_

_On a rocky cliff,_

_Our memories intertwining,_

_Sharing our gifts._

_I lost her again,_

_I lost her heart,_

_And now we are together forever,_

_For a fresh start._

_Fang + Max_

_May our love last for eternity._

**I cried while writing this. R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Version 2.0. Basically, the same summary, but a different plot and storyline. Max's point of view this time.**

Why did he leave?

Each year, for the past twenty years, that question haunted me. I've grown old. I'm not a teenager anymore. I have a job, a house, a living. But still, a huge gap has been torn out of my heart.

Each day, Angel looks at me concernedly, because she can see how I'm aging twice as fast as I should be. My hair is already streaked with gray. My eyes are permanently sad-looking from crying so much. I have cuts on my arms from trying to cut out the pain, ease it out along with the blood that comes out with it.

Each minute, my heart beats quickly, and with each beat, comes the doubt, the fear, the sadness, the anger, the misery, the depression, the worry that comes every day now.

The flock, my babies, are spread across the U.S. Angel, in spite of being power-hungry and such a traitor, reconnected with me because, "The flock wouldn't listen to me. However powerful I am, I just wasn't you." And Gazzy connected with Angel because of the invisible sibling bond. So they both live with me.

They aren't my babies anymore. Gazzy is an engineer, and Angel is a teacher. Don't worry—I forced her to swear she wouldn't mind control the kids into doing anything.

Iggy got together with Ella, believe it or not. But Ella says it's more of a partnership thing—she helps him see. But they still love each other and we see each other each month.

Oh yeah—I live in Arizona, with my mom. Iggy and Ella live in California.

Nudge is a supermodel. For once, she can be what she likes to be. Her wings don't have to be hidden anymore. She's nicknamed, coyly, "The Angel of Fashion". Surprisingly, no one has questioned her wings. In spite of her busy schedule, we still get together for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our fake birthdays. She lives in N.Y.C.

Total and Akila passed away a few years ago, leaving their litter of six adorable, _non-talking_ pups. I swear, I can see now why Angel loves them so much.

Fang's laptop is still with us. Beaten, battered, scratched up...but I refuse to get it replaced. It's all that I have left of him. Sometimes, I still look at the pros/cons list, or the draft of the letter to me, or the letter to Dylan, or blogs he never posted, and I smile a little, and fantasize that someday, he'll realize how much he hurt me, hurt the flock, and he'll come back.

Uh, yeah. In my nightmares.

So here I am, twenty years older, twenty years sadder, and twenty years a heck of a lot smarter. I never fell in love again. I never _will_ fall in love again, even if that goddamn Fang shows his ass. Because if there's one thing I learned when I was young and stupid, friends should stay friends. And love hurts. And truth burns. Oops, that's three things. Hmm, maybe I'm smarter than I think.

I grabbed my cell phone and a pack of tissues (yup, that's me—always preparing for the tears. Classic female intuition.)

I took off.

* * *

I hadn't flown for a long time, so my wings were cramped and sore, and it felt great to stretch them out. I try to keep a low profile.

Anyways, I wove my way to the bat cave. It had been such a long time, there were cobwebs growing over the entrance. Blech.

I knew he probably wouldn't come. Twenty years. I mean, seriously—he was Mr. Emotionless Brick Wall. He wouldn't feel as desperate, as depressed, as longing as I did. He probably forgot.

But I didn't, because I read that note every day.

* * *

_Five hours later_

Fuck him. A no show.

"Damn you, Fang," I hissed, and slammed my leg down. The ground trembled and pebbles skittered.

I'd give him ten minutes. Okay, I'm being unrealistic. I'd give _myself_ ten more minutes, and then I'd leave.

Suddenly, the back of my neck prickled, but I refused to turn around. I knew it was _him_.

"Max?"

Oh, God, his voice. The voice I had only heard in my head until it disappeared for the past twenty years. The voice that rarely spoke, but when it did, either helped me out of a dumbass situation or annoyed the shit out of me. The voice I had fallen in love with.

His quick footsteps sounded and he was suddenly in front of me, and I nearly choked...

_Fang's POV_

Max.

Oh, God, what had I done to her?

Her face was still beautiful, but full of lines of sadness, of worry, of many sleepless nights. No smile wrinkles. Her hair was streaked with gray. Her eyes...her chocolate brown eyes were full to the brim with sadness, longing, and hollowness. They were empty.

She had grown another few inches. Tall, slender, and so delicate. So easy to snap, like a twig.

"Fang..." her voice was just as bad. It tore at me. Reminded me of every one of her leading sessions, her comforting the younger ones, her laughing, her snarling, her burning someone with a comeback no one could answer, her whisper in my ears, whispering how she loved me. How she needed me.

_How she loved me._ I wonder if it still was that way.

"Oh, God, Max," I whispered, and rushed forward, holding my arms out. But she shrank back, pain etched in her lines. What had I done?!

I remembered I had left my laptop. I wondered if she'd read everything on it. And...

"I have your note," she lamely offered, pulling out a yellowing sheet of paper.

I allowed myself a small smile. "I didn't have anything from you."

"Whose fault did you think that was?"

Her voice bit. Her words stung. I looked away.

"I'm so—"

"Yeah, yeah. Everybody's sorry." Her voice was bitter as she looked away. "Everyone tried to comfort me. Cheer me up. Did it work? No. Because sorry _never_ helps. They didn't know what it felt."

Max continued, her voice getting louder and louder. "You _promised_ me, Fang. You _promised _you would never, ever leave me again."

"You broke your promise. And I will never love, ever again."

"Max..." I was surprised to find tears welling up in my eyes. "I've missed you."

Her face softened just a fraction. "Doesn't change anything."

"No, it doesn't," I agreed. "But I thought you might want to know."

She smiled, just a little bit, and my heart didn't feel quite so bad. "You know, Fang...nothing will ever be the same."

"What do you mean?" I asked a little too quickly.

Max gazed sadly at me. "Like I said. I can't love anymore. I was too naïve, too trusting. I let you break my heart."

"Just when we got together," I quietly added.

She closed her eyes. "Exactly."

Suddenly, Max turned to me again. "What do you want?"

"What do you mean?" I said again.

"Why did you meet me? I mean, we're never going to get together again." She looked at me expectantly. "We're probably never going to see each other again after this, either."

"You don't want to?"

Unexpectedly, her hand caressed my cheek. I almost broke into tears, remembering her loving caresses twenty years ago...the taste of her lips, the love in her eyes, the sparkle in her smile. All that. Gone.

Max reached up on her tiptoes and kissed my forehead. "Love you..."

She pulled back, her palms lightly resting on my cheeks. "Take care, Fang. Fly on."

She leaned forward and kissed me. So gently, so tenderly, a tear leaked out the corner of my closed eyes, because I realized I had lost a second chance, I had lost my first love forever.

Max pressed a note into my hand, and took off, snapping out her speckled wings, so gorgeous, so powerful, so graceful it took my breath away.

I looked at the note. It was yellow and brittle around the edges. Apparently, she had written it twenty years ago as well.

_Dear Fang,_

_ What did I do? Was it something I did? A mistake I made? Did I make you jealous? Was I being a not good enough leader?_

_ What's wrong?_

_ Why did you leave me?_

_ You are the other part of me. The logical side. The side I know that'll never give in, the side I know I can always trust, the side I _thought_ would always be there for me._

_ I was wrong._

_ There's so many things I never said to you. Things like, I meant what I said when I was all drugged up with Valium. I need you. I love you. Fang, I can't live without you. You _are_ my life. _

_ Fang, please come back to me, to the flock. I feel like my heart has been ripped out._

_ If you do come back, I'll burn this up, and no one will ever know. Sure, I'll get a little mad, and there'll be some harsh words, but then the innocence of Angel, and Nudge, and Gazzy, and even sometimes Iggy will win me over, and we'll end up kissing again._

_ But if you don't come back, I'll read this out loud every day to myself, to reassure that you left so I could be a better leader, so that I wouldn't be "distracted". Well, you not being there distracts me as well._

_ Iggy is a kick-ass fighter, a great friend, cook, and flock member. He's less chatty then Nudge, less obnoxious than you, and strong. He's a good second-in-command, but every time I look at him, and his sightless blue eyes, I know there's not that special bond and connection we shared._

_ Please come back to me._

_Love,_

_Max_

**Like it? Hate it? R&R!**

**Oh, and sorry if their meeting was too short, but I wanted to keep it short and sweet, aka depressing.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Fang has finally come out for us States peeps. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten it yet, but I have already called first dibs on my BFF's copy. =D BTW, check out the Maximum Ride website. Didja see the commercial? Fang and Max looked so weird and old and Max had dark hair! It's all, "My name is Fang. Hers is Max. I love her. But will our love survive? Will **_**we **_**survive?" SO CLICHÉ! JEEZ! Sorry, I rambled. Fang's POV. **

For the hawks, new life was beginning. The chicks were cawing and the parents were busy feeding them. I stepped inside, my heart soaring with them. The cave was dark and cobwebs all over the place. My heart squeezed. _What if_...

"Please come," I whispered.

* * *

Twilight had come, but nothing had happened. For the first time in twenty years since I'd left her, tears were streaking down my face.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the setting sun.

* * *

Two hours later, I was still sitting there, waiting, waiting for a lost hope, a lost dream, and a lost love that had slipped through my grasp like sand when squeezed too tightly. What was I hoping for?

The moonlight touched the cave, the hawks' cries quiet. The moonlight threw webs of milky whiteness all over the craggy cave floor. The full weight of my thirty-four years settled upon me. I felt old. I longed for those teenage days, where I could just fly, the wind ruffling my hair, the one person I'd always loved, the one person I'd always trusted, right by my side, always there.

I had left those days.

I shifted slightly on the rock and felt something crinkle. I whirled around. I frowned. I had distinctly heard something. I looked around. Nothing was there. Standing up, I walked to the cliff ledge and peered out. Nothing. I turned back around, and stiffened. Ledged in the rock was a creamy white envelope, yellowing after age, tucked so it would be invisible in the shadows by day but visible only by night, sending the clear message: _Only a flock member with true persistence will find this._

My hands quaking, I pulled it out gently, not wanting to spoil it. Written in Max's sloppy handwriting were the words:

_Only read if you are:_

_Fang_

_A member of the flock_

_Please read_

_I'm sorry_

I carefully opened the seal and pulled out a letter. Tear marks dotted the letter. The handwriting was shaky. It read:

_Dear Fang,_

_ Words cannot express my feelings right now. Itex is gone. That's what you wanted, isn't it? And Dylan is gone with it. He offered himself as a martyr after realizing that his one purpose in life—to be my "soul mate"—was _not_ going to work out. We had this huge bomb that Gazzy and Iggy spent weeks working on, and it could only be detonated at close proximity. I wanted to go, Fang. Wanted so much I almost screamed at them to let me. But in the end, I realized that would have been a waste. After all, you left to protect me, not kill me, although in the end, that didn't work out so well._

_ Anyhow, I am writing this four years before I am due to see you at the hawk cliff which I am placing this letter in. Why? _

_ Fang, did you seriously expect me to come? You wanted me to stay alive, be safe. How can I be safe when I know that the one person besides myself I trust with my life is out—_there_? Not by my side, not there to kick-ass with me, not there to help the flock when I'm gone. Perhaps you wanted to soothe your own guilt. Either way...it's too late. I'm dying, Fang. Maybe I should rephrase that. I died the day you left me. The part of me that was _you_...was gone. But now it's worse now that there's nothing left to do. _

_ You broke your promise Fang. That old saying is true: old wounds never heal. How can I trust anybody again now that the person I knew almost as well as myself broke his promise. You promised you'd never leave me again, Fang. What happened to that? I promised to die when you die. I guess I broke my promise too. But to me, you gone is like you died. "Shades of gray" as you put it in your letter. The letter I read every day, praying it wasn't true._

_ Sixteen years, Fang. I'm thirty. I'm old. I can't forgive, I can't forget, but I always waited and I always loved. I was and am always, always there for you. And were you there for me when I needed you most?_

_ You loved me enough to leave me. _

_ I loved you enough to give you my heart. _

_Love,_

_Max_

I sat there, crying solidly into the night. The stars twinkled above, almost mockingly. Somewhere up there, Max was flying eternally, dying a bitter death.

But somewhere up there, Max waited for me.

_I was and am always, always there for you_

**R&R! *Hands over cookie***

**Oh, and a bonus if any of you guys can PM me and tell me some Faxy stuff from Fang!**


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